


slipping into the lava (and I’m trying to keep from going under)

by bvtterfliez



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I mean not really angst? but anygays just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:08:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bvtterfliez/pseuds/bvtterfliez
Summary: The Fire Nation calls bending Agni’s gift. Mako thinks it’s more of a curse.An (admittedly very rough) look at Mako’s opinion on firebending after his parents died.
Relationships: Bolin & Mako (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	slipping into the lava (and I’m trying to keep from going under)

**Author's Note:**

> for mako week 2020 on twitter

Mako was born with what the Fire Nation referred to as Agni’s gift- the gift of firebending.

It was signified, his mother told him, by the spark in each firebender’s eye- almost unnoticeable to those not blessed with Agni’s flame. But Naoki, his mother, saw it even though she wasn’t a bender herself, so maybe everybody from the Fire Nation could see it.

Mako didn’t remember much of his training, or if he trained at all. He recalled making fire at the tip of his pinky to light up the room when the electricity wasn’t up and getting too excited heating water.

He didn’t really have many good memories of firebending after that.

Now thirteen, Mako clenched a fist at the unwelcome memory of his parents. The thin walls of the room and it’s various holes let in a cold draft. Mako glanced over at Bolin. He seemed comfortable, but maybe he was just pretending? He did that sometimes, when he thought Mako was stressed. Agni knew why. If Mako wasn’t stressed, then he wasn’t doing his job right.

The draft only seemed to get colder. Mako shivered and huddled the blankets closer around himself. “Damn this apartment,” he muttered. “At this rate I’ll be gl-glad if we get evicted.” 

The threat of eviction had been looming over them for weeks now. The landlord was catching on that they didn’t have any rich parents to pay when they got home from their trip. If one of them didn’t come up with a good heist… no, if Mako didn’t come up with a good heist, and soon, they wouldn’t have enough money to sleep with the fishes by the end of the week.

“Gotta think of something,” Mako murmured, his teeth chattering. “Gotta be- something I can do- shit!”

The drafts knocked the curtains straight through the window and poured in at full speed. Mako saw Bolin shiver and immediately scrambled to his feet, shaking off his blankets. Before he could wrap them around the younger boy he coughed. “W- wait- you need those-”

“I’m fine,” Mako said gently but firmly. 

“No you’re not,” Bolin insisted. “You’re stressing yourself Mako! And now you’ll get a cold!” 

“I won’t, okay?” Mako said, trying hard to be patient, and praying Bolin wouldn’t ask more questions.

He did. “How?! It’s freezing cold outside-”

“I’ll use firebending, okay? I’ll use that to keep myself warm. I do it all the time.”

Mako couldn’t help the bitterness in his voice, though it was clear from Bolin’s expression he didn’t understand it. “You can?! That’s amazing! How does it work, can you use it on other people, os there an earthbending equivalent-”

“Bolin.”

Bolin blinked, finally seeming to notice Mako’s bad mood. “What’s wrong Mako?”

Mako swallowed. “I- I can’t get into it right now, Bolin, but firebending isn’t that cool.”

“Of course it is! You can burn stuff and blow stuff up and shoot lightning and-”

“Bolin, our parents were killed by a firebender.”

Bolin seemed to stop in his tracks. “Oh,” he said in a small voice.

Mako sighed. “Yeah. Oh.”

Mako sat next to Bolin. “Look,” he said, trying to sound confident despite feeling anything but. “I- I try my best, I do, but it’s hard, taking care of everything. And it’s harder when- when everytime you look at your hands-” He swallowed, trying not to cry. “You see a monster.”

Bolin looked at Mako sadly for a minute. The older boy couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. He couldn’t believe he was telling Bolin this. His job was to protect Bolin, not use him as a therapist.

Suddenly, Bolin conked him on the head with a rock. 

“Wha- ow!” Mako scowled at Bolin. “What was that for?”

Bolin shrugged. “I just felt like it.”

Mako glared at him. What was he up to? “It hurt,” Mako grumbled. “Really bad.” 

“I guess it did. So we should probably get rid of the walls.” 

Mako startled. “What?”

“You heard me.” Bolin jutted out his chin. “We should chuck out the walls.” 

“Why?!”

“The rock came from the wall, and I used it to hit you. So we should get rid of it.”

Mako shook his head. “Bolin, just because you hit my head with a rock doesn’t mean all rocks are bad or that people shouldn’t use rocks. You just used one rock for a bad purpose.”

Bolin nodded. “Right. Same goes for firebending.”

Mako blinked. “I- huh?”

Bolin swallowed and held Mako’s hand. “Look, a firebender killed our parents. And it was-” Bolin’s voice cracked, just slightly. “It was awful. But it doesn’t mean fire bending is awful, or that you’re awful. Anything can be used to do something bad. That doesn’t mean that the thing itself is bad. Just that sometimes bad people use it. And you’re not bad.”

Mako stared at Bolin in half shock and half emotion. He felt tears swimming in his eyes and wasn’t even sure why- just a tide of pent up emotion threatening to spill.

“You don’t have to use fire bending right away,” Bolin said in a small, quiet voice. “But it doesn’t make you a bad person. Remember, it’s Agni’s-”

“It’s Agni’s gift,” Mako finished with a small smile. “Yeah.”

Bolin nodded, grinning. “Now come on!” He shifted a little to the right. “Let’s bundle up. Maybe if you use your heating technique, we won’t freeze.”

Mako chuckled and spread the covers over the both of them. Then, focusing, he concentrated on channeling heat from his innerflame.

He was underfed and poorly, and that must have negatively impacted his bending somehow, but the heat was just enough for the two brothers.

For the first time in years, Mako’s powers didn’t feel like a burden.

**Author's Note:**

> do you ever think about how mako’s parents were killed by firebenders and he probably felt responsible for their death? cause so do I and that’s why I cry everynight


End file.
